Gary Williams

Department Chair and Curator of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology

Research interests include the systematics and evolutionary biology of octocorals (soft corals, gorgonians, and pennatulaceans), which comprise 65% of all coral species diversity. Fieldwork is currently focused on two bathymetrically opposite regions of the world's oceans: coral reefs of the tropical western Pacific (the Philippines, Melanesia, and Micronesia), and the deep-sea benthos (particularly the west coast of North America and various deep ocean basins worldwide). Scuba diving is essential to my coral reef research since the highest diversity of octocorals is found between about 3 and 35 meters in depth, while ROV's (Remote Operational Vehicles) are of primary importance in deep-sea research.

A broad interest in natural history developed during childhood, in a relatively uncrowded San Francisco Bay Area - before much of the enormous influx of human population that extinguished much of the open space and altered the regional biodiversity forever. An early fascination in the plants and animals of the undeveloped open spaces near my childhood home in the North Bay soon led to collecting and identifying the local insects, trees, and wildflowers. An interest in marine life was influenced by two enthusiastic marine biologists - Dr. Gordon Chan (College of Marin, Biology Instructor) and Dusty Chivers (Senior Curatorial Assistant in the Academy's Department of Invertebrate Zoology).

Octocorallian coelenterates include some of the most beautiful and morphologically diverse animals in the world's oceans - these are the soft corals, sea fans, and sea pens. They are a group of corals characterized by having eight feathery tentacles surrounding the mouth of each polyp. Due to a paucity of good characters and the great phenotypic variability of species, octocoral systematics has traditionally been difficult and disputatious - partly explaining why there is a corresponding paucity of octocoral systematists! Other factors that make the field challenging include the extreme difference in appearance between live and preserved material, and the poor attention to detail in much of the older descriptive literature.

Soft corals are most abundant on shallow reef flats, while gorgonians are more abundant on slopes, walls, and rocky outcrops in a wide depth range. In addition, sea pens are encountered at all depths and are often important constituents of the ocean floor. For further information, check out the Octocoral Research Center website.

Students - Graduate students in Biology at San Francisco State University and undergraduate interns during the Academy's Summer Systematics Institute.

Selected Scientific Publications

Perez, C.D., R.T. Cordeiro, G.C. Williams, and S.D. Cairns. 2016. Diversity and Distribution of Octocorallia. In: S. Goffredo and Z. Dubinsky: The Cnidaria, Past, Present, and Future - The World of Medusa and her Sisters. Springer Book Publishers.

The California Academy of Sciences is a renowned scientific and educational institution dedicated to exploring, explaining, and sustaining life on Earth. Based in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, it is home to a world-class aquarium, planetarium, and natural history museum—all under one living roof.